Even before filmmaker Josef Rusnak's new sci-fi picture, "The Thirteenth
Floor," had been released, people were already comparing it to such
recent films as "The Matrix," "Dark City," and "eXistenZ," but this
comparison actually holds no water and is only related in a superficial
way. Although "The Thirteenth Floor" has acquired a similar storyline
concerning alternate realities and virtual technology, the style in
which the subject matter is approached relies more on '30s film noir
than action or fantasy (even though it has a little bit of both). If
anything, the film reminded me of 1994's Jean-Claude Van Damme pic,
"Timecop," if you can believe that.

Hannon Fuller (Armin Mueller-Stahl), a groundbreaking computer designer
and leader of a corporate tower, has invented a virtual reality system
that stands as a realistic simulation of Los Angeles, circa 1937. It
seems Fuller has been "jacking in" quite a lot lately, and found himself
a hunted man in both worlds, the simulation and 1999. Before he is
killed, however, he leaves a note with a bartender in 1937 to be given
to his close confidante and computer researcher, Douglas Hall (Craig
Bierko). When much of the murder evidence ominously points toward
Douglas, he decides to go back to the simulated '30s in hopes of finding
out why Fuller was killed, and if he really did do it. Meanwhile, a
mysterious, fetching young woman, Jane (Gretchen Mol), claims to be
Fuller's daughter, and immediately grows an attraction with Douglas,
both of whom are struck with an odd sense of deja vu that they've met
before.

Sony, the studio behind "The Thirteenth Floor" (which is based upon the
Daniel F. Galouye novel, "Simulacron 3"), probably couldn't have chosen
a more inopportune time to be releasing this film. The summer of big
blockbusters has just begun to gear up in recent weeks, and this film is
a deliberately-paced, rather un-mainstream movie without a "name" actor
in the whole cast. Not only that, but "The Matrix" is still playing in
most theaters, and the television spots for "The Thirteenth Floor" have
probably been too similar to picque sci-fi fans' interest. Perhaps an
early-spring berth would have been a more intelligent release time
because, as is, the film has next to no chance at being a box-office
success.

So, regardless of money, how is the actual film? Well, after a rocky
opening twenty minutes that never really grasped ahold of my interest,
the movie gradually got more and more involving and intriguing until I
actually began to enjoy it midway through. The idea of alternate
realities is not a new one, but it almost always seems fresh here, most
likely because it doesn't follow the usual genre bandwagon and go for
non-stop action, explosions, and special effects. There is an actual
brain working within "The Thirteen Floor," and while this is always
apparent, the film ultimately fails to take off in time to fully save
itself. By the end, there are still many noticable plot holes that
certainly needed to be worked out, but maybe I should just be thankful
that it was at least comprehensible, as opposed to the overblown,
overplotted, overrated "The Matrix."

The cast is good for what they're worth, but no one ever really comes
off as fully developed and three-dimensional. Craig Bierko is an
unfamiliar face who has what it takes to act as the protagonist, but I
never really grew to care about his fate. The same goes for Vincent
D'Onofrio, as Douglas' buddy in the present and a bartender in the
simulation world. Armin Mueller-Stahl is thoroughly wasted as Fuller,
the vital chaacter who sets the plot into motion, but all but disappears
afterwards. And finally, we come to Gretchen Mol, a luminous young
actress whom has occasionally, and unfairly, been criticized for her
questionable acting talents. What "those" people fail to understand,
however, is that Mol does have range, but her full abilities have not
been put to the cinematic test yet, since most of her roles thus far
have been relatively small. Mol is the one strong link in "The
Thirteenth Floor," and in several scene, particularly one set at a
grocery store, she manages to not strike one false note.

By the time "The Thirteenth Floor" had reached its climax, I was far
more engrossed in the goings-on than I was in the first hour, but the
film still came off as nothing more than a valiant failure. The
screenplay, by Josef Rusnak and Ravel Centeno-Rodriguez, brings up many
thought-provoking questions and unpredictable twists, but the dialogue
and characters needed another re-write. "The Thirteenth Floor" is one
case in which individual moments and ideas come off as far more
powerful, and memorable, than the overall whole.